Twenty Easy Recipes to Help IDEA WILD
Giving by Example
Ingredients:
·
Friends
(and who doesn’t have friends?)
·
$25 (or
another amount you are willing to donate)
·
An envelope
Directions:
1. Put your donation in an envelope.
2.
Ask your friends to match your donation.
3.
This is very effective because you are not asking them to do anything you
haven’t done
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Phone-a-thon
Ingredients:
·
A list of
people you think would donate money to IDEA WILD
·
A phone
Directions:
1. Call people on you list and ask them for a small portion
of the $500 until you have raised that amount.
Variation:
Trade lists with another person. (This is good for people who are shy about
asking their own friends for money.)
Match Giving
Ingredients:
·
Friends
·
$100
Directions:
1. Ask you friends to donate and tell them that you will
donate $5 for every $25 they give.
Variation:
Make
this a challenge during a fundraising event. “For the next five minutes, I
(or someone you know) will give $5 for every person that donates $25 to IDEA
WILD!”
Mailing Lists
Ingredients:
·
Mailing
lists from:
A
list from another nonprofit organization (NPO)
A
list of members of another NPO or service group
A
list of name given to you by friends
·
Stationary,
envelopes, stamps
Directions:
1. Compose and send letters to those names.
2.
The amount of money you would ask for depends on how many names you have,
how many you expect to hear back from, and whether or not you would like the
mailing to pay for itself.
Loose Change
Ingredients:
·
5-10
participants
Directions:
1.
Ask 5 to 10 people to save all their change for MONTHS.
2.
Save your change
Variation:
Offer a prize to the person that raised the most change.
Count the money every month. If you look like you are coming up short, then
use one of the other methods to make the difference.
Volunteer Canvas
Ingredients:
·
A group of
friends
·
IDEA WILD
literature
Directions:
1.
Take literature to nearby houses and ask for donations.
2.
Be sure to comply with city and county ordinances.
Service Clubs
Ingredients:
·
Service
clubs
Directions:
1.
Research service clubs and organizations in your area to see what their
giving policies are.
2.
Follow their policies. (They are usually very helpful in this area.)
Variation:
Ask
your friends that belong to service clubs, Greek organizations, etc. to
discuss IDEA WILD at a meeting and “pass the hat.”
Corporate Matching Gifts Funds
Ingredients:
·
Friends
(and/or you) who work in corporations with matching gift funds.
Directions:
1.
Ask you friends to donate with the corporation to IDEA WILD.
2.
Pool the money.
Do Something for Yourself
Ingredients:
·
An
unhealthy habit such as smoking
Directions:
1.
Offer to do something realistic for yourself. Something your friends and/or
family have been asking you to do anyway is most effective.
2.
Tell them that you will do it on the condition that they donate a certain
amount every day for thirty days.
3.
Refund the money if you do not stop that habit for that time.
Variations:
Offer to match their donations if you are successful.
Offer to match their donations at a ratio if you are successful. For
instance, pay $5 for every $25 that they pay.
T-shirts
Ingredients:
·
The
wildlife prints, hats, t-shirts, and greeting cards IDEA WILD sells.
Directions:
1.
Sell the merchandise at work and to friends and family
Variations:
Have
an IDEA WILD party similar to a Tupperware Party
Set
up a booth at an arts and crafts store.
Distribute them to novelty shops and bookstores
Part Time Job
Ingredients:
·
10 hours a
week
Directions:
1.
Take a part time job.
2.
Give everything you earn up to $500
3.
10 hours per week at $6.50 per hour would net over $500 in just two months.
Variations:
Of
course, you could get a higher paying job and work less (or earn more!).
Raffle
Ingredients:
·
4 helpers
·
An item or
items to raffle off
·
500 or more
raffle tickets
Directions:
1.
You and your friends sell 100 tickets each.
2.
Hold the raffle.
Variations:
Have
one more friend sell tickets so you don’t have to.
Raffle services instead of items.
Tell
your friends they may raise money by some other means.
Tour
Ingredient:
·
You or
another knowledgeable person
Directions:
1.
Advertise the event (newspaper, flyers, etc.)
2.
You lead or someone else leads a tour (architectural, historic, nature,
etc.).
3.
Charge $10 to $30 per person
Variations:
Do a
sailing trip, rafting trip, horseback ride, etc, (especially if you can get
someone to lend you the supplies!)
Charge extra and provide lunch.
Sale
Ingredients:
·
2-5 helpers
·
Some type
of goods (baked goods, books, garage sale items, etc.)
Directions:
1. Get the goodies.
2. Hold the sale.
3. Clean up afterwards.
Variations:
Promise you helpers a reward (pizza night, movie night,
etc.) if you reach the $500 goal.
Recycling
Ingredients
·
Aluminum
cans
·
Friends to
help you
Directions:
1. Collect aluminum cans for money
2. Get your friends to do the same.
3. Sell them to a buy-back center.
Variations:
Offer to use any extra money you make on a “night out” with your friends.
Community Garage Sale
Ingredients:
·
Neighbors
Directions:
1.
Tell your neighbors about IDEA WILD
2.
Offer to take items for the sale if they will donate half or all of their
proceeds to IDEA WILD.
3.
Do it.
Variations:
Use
some of your own items.
If
your neighbors are willing, ask them to help with the sale.
Set
up a contest to see whose items can raise the largest amount of money.
Pyramid Dinners
Ingredients:
·
12 guests
·
Meals for
yourself and your guests
Directions:
1.
Invite 12 people to dinner.
2.
Charge $12 each.
3.
Get 2 people from you dinner to do the same.
4.
Have them get 2 people from their dinners to do the same.
5.
You will receive $576 at the end.
Variations:
Provide entertainment.
Charge extra an offer gourmet food.
Show
the IDEA WILD video and ask for extra donations.
Progressive Dinner
Ingredients:
·
3 friends
·
A main
course.
Directions:
1. Invite 25 or more people.
2. Start at one person’s home for cocktails and hors
d’oeuvres.
3. Progress to next person’s house for soup or salad, then
main course, then dessert.
Variations:
You
can charge for the entire event of per course.
Hire
a limousine to carry guests to each house for an extra charge.
Fancy Dinner
Ingredients:
·
A fancy
dinner at home.
·
Or, a
regular dinner at a fancy home.
·
Or, a fancy
dinner at a fancy home!
Directions:
1.
Invite 20 or more guests.
2.
Charge $25 per person.
Variations:
Serve unusual food (ethnic, gourmet, etc.)
Have
special entertainment.
Poker Night
Ingredients:
·
Poker
friends
·
Poker
paraphernalia (cards, drinks, food, table, etc.)
Directions:
1. Charge a $5 entrance fee.
2. Split every “pot” with IDEA WILD.
Variations:
Charge extra for refreshments.
Include one or two glassed of something with admission.
Extra Tips
> Do not limit yourself to what is here. If you have a good idea, use it!
>
Offer a reward (gift certificate, award, etc.) to the person that
raised/donated the most money.
>
Offer a night out (pizza, movie, etc.) for the people that helped.
>
Offer to match donations at a specific rate. One of your dollars for every
five of theirs is a good amount. If you do this, tell them larger amounts
like “I will personally donate $5 for every $25 you donate.” This makes it
sound more impressive. On the other hand, if you make the amounts too big,
“I will donate $100 for every $500 you donate,” it will sound too
unrealistic.
>
Charge more then you plan to donate to recoup costs such as invitations and
food.
>
When inviting people to gatherings, invite families. That way, you get more
people for your efforts.
>
Even if your gathering is not for a meal, provide food and include that fact
on your reservations. Many grocery stores are willing to provide snacks for
events that benefit nonprofit organizations.
>
Tell people your goal. They feel like they are making more of a difference
that way.
> If
you have collected a good portion (probably at least one fourth of the
total), tell people. They will feel that your goal is even more realistic
than it already is.
